Forum Challenges
by Robinwing16
Summary: This is where I'll put my challenges for the forums I'm in.


I was watching Swiftpaw, the most beautiful she-cat ever, walk out of the apprentices' den when Dustpaw, his sisters an my brother, Redpaw, came up and started to tease her.

"Look at little Lonepaw all alone. I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed that way forever," Redpaw sneered.

"Yeah, who would want a tiny, weak, wimpy kit as their mate," Dustpaw added.

"Hey Lamepaw, where are your big brothers, oh wait you don't have any," Featherpaw chuckled.

Swiftpaw flattened her ears to her head and crouched low to the ground. They laughed at her as she crawled away. She walked with her tail dragging in the ground behind her. As she walked she scanned the clearing and stopped. She smiled when her eyes fell on me, and she walked over looking light on her feet.

"Hey Breezepaw, would you like to go hunting with me?" She asked.

"Uh... Sure, I guess so," I tried to act nonchalant.

"Okay we'll wait till the patrols go out," she said before heading towards the freshkill pile.

I sighed. Why was she so pretty?

"Breezepaw."

Why is it that I couldn't focus on anything but her whenever she's around?

"Breezepaw..."

Why can't I talk to her without stuttering or sounding stupid?

"Breezepaw, you in there?"

Why, why, why? I should tell her how I feel, I thought.

"You coming or not, Breezepaw?"

I was brought back to reality by the sound of Swiftpaw's voice. Her face was right up in mine and her eyes reflected annoyance and a small shimmer of hurt hid underneath that.

"To where?" I asked her.

"Did you forget the whole conversation again? I asked you if you wanted to go hunting with me and you said you would," she sounded rejected.

"Oh, oops sorry, let's go," I got up from the dip in the ground by the apprentices' den and trotted to the camp entrance.

Swiftpaw immediately perked up and ran ahead of me. The heather bushes marking the entrenched to the WindClan camp barely shook when she sped by. I sprinted after her so she wouldn't think I forgot again. That would be terrible.  
***

~at Swiftpaw's second gathering~  
"Hey Breezepaw, would you sit with me when the gathering starts?" Swiftpaw had asked.

"Sure I wi-" I began to say but was cut off by Redpaw.

"Breezepaw! Talonpaw just said he can run faster than you. Are you going to let a ThunderClan cat show you up?" Redpaw called from a group of apprentices.

"Course not!" I called back. Then I turned to Swiftpaw, "I'll sit with you when it starts."

~after the gathering~

"Thanks for sitting with me Breezepaw," Swiftpaw sounded bitter.

"Huh," I said.

Oh StarClan I forgot, I growled at myself.

~a moon later~  
"Breezepaw would you like to come see Cloudstar and her kit with me later?" She begged.

"S-sure, I'm just going on s-sunhigh patrol with Hare-Harefoot, I'll go with you when I get back," I responded.

~after the patrol returned~  
"Go strait to your nest were on dawn patrol tomorrow morning, Breezepaw," Harefoot said.

"Yes sir," I yawned.

"I went a head and visited them," Swiftpaw said without looking at me. "She named her kit Bramblekit."

"S-sorry Swiftpaw," I tried to appologize.  
***

She was sitting on top of a hill when I found her, and was staring in awe at the lake. She looked like a new apprentice just getting to see the territory. Even though she's only a moon younger than me.

"So are you going to sit there or are we hunting," I leapt at her in a mock fight.

She squealed and tried to shove me off, but she wasn't strong enough to. I laughed at her and let her up. She was so pretty to me, but I had a hard time trying to tell her. I honestly didn't care if she just sat and stared at the lake. I'd sit with her.

"Okay, okay, let's hunt," Swiftpaw said.

She turned and dashed off, and I was quick to follow her. We ran until we began to scent rabbit.

"Look at how many there are!" Swiftpaw purred in delight.

I padded up to the top of a hill that she was on. There were rabbits everywhere. Enough to feed the entire clan. If we came back with this much, the other apprentices might stop teasing Swiftpaw.

"Swiftpaw? Are you okay," I asked her when I saw her smile fade into a frown.

I was the only friend she had, that's what she told me. The other apprentices tease her about her hight. She's short, but she's fast. They tease her about how she isn't great at fighting. It's not fair for her though, she's not as strong as everyone else. The saddest part was how they tease her for not having any littermates. She did but they didn't survive the first night. She never knew about her brothers, and she still doesn't.

The other fathers would gladly stuck up for their kits if they were teased, but Swiftpaw's died before she was born. Her mother died of greencough only a moon after Swiftpaw was apprenticed.

"I remember when my mom took me up here. She said that from this hill you could look at the whole lake like StarClan. I never figured that she'd join them so soon," she lowered her head in grief.

She looked even smaller with her back hunched over, her gorse colored fur ruffled by the wind, and her heather colored eyes dark instead of having their usual spark.

"Hey if you don't feel like hunting, we don't have to," I said quietly as I wrapped my light grey tail around her.

I grew hot under my fur when she leaned against me and began to weep.

"I don't feel like hunting now," she sniffled. "I just don't.. I just don't want..."

Her sentence was cut off by a sob. I put my nose to her cheek in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm sorry I made you come out here," she apologized. "I just didn't want to be alone all the time."

"You're not alone, you've got the clan... you've got me," I said hoping it would mean something else to her.

"Yes I do," she smiled up at me. "And I hope it stays that way."

I finally told her and it felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders. I pressed my muzzle to hers and we just sat until the sun was high in the sky. On our way back we scented fox, but it was stale so we disregarded it. The camp was crowded with warriors who were returning from their patrols.

"Look, it's little Lonepaw," jeered Dustpaw, the eldest apprentice.

"Shut up Dustpaw," I snarled.

"Why? Does Breezepaw have a crush on itty bitty Lonepaw," Dustpaw's sister, Frostpaw, teased.

I ignored her and set my tail on Swiftpaw's back to lead her away.

"Don't listen to them. They want to hurt you. If you show them that their comments don't bother you, then they'll get bored and stop teasing you," I advised.

"Breezepaw," my mentor, the deputy, Harefoot, called to me.

"I'll be right back," I told Swiftpaw before dashing to Harefoot.

"Could you and Swiftpaw bring the elders and queens some fresh kill?" He asked.

"Sure," I replied and ran to Swiftpaw.

"We get to bring prey to the queens and elders," I told her.

"Okay," she beamed and headed towards the freshkill pile.

She loved going to visit the queens and playing with the kits. I grabbed a starling and followed Swiftpaw to the nursery.

"Why hello Swiftpaw, Breezepaw," Silkfur purred.

"We brought you some freshkill," I told the queen.

"Well thank you both," Skyfall said.

"How is Bramblekit," Swiftpaw asked Cloudstar.

The leader had to resign from being leader until the kit is apprenticed. He looked like a miniature copy of Eagleclaw, Cloudstar's mate.  
After saying our hellos, Swiftpaw and I left to take freshkill to the elders.  
When we left the elders den, we noticed the warriors were acting strange. Their ears were pricked, their muzzles towards the sky and jaws parted like they were scenting prey. I padded up to Harefoot who was scanning the top of the camp through narrowed eyes on top of the high rock.

"What's wrong," I asked quietly, I wouldn't want to make him mad by being too loud.

He continued scanning until his eyes fell on a bush near the camp entrance. Then I noticed, the bush was rustling and all the patrols had returned.

"Some of the senior warriors said they scented fox," Harefoot turned to me. "No one is allowed to leave the camp."

Harefoot's gaze darted back to the bush, and a russet colored shape darted into the camp followed by five others. The foxes looked thin and hungry. Harefoot yowled to the queens and elders to stay in their dens. Then he and I joined the other warriors in fighting off the foxes.

The four biggest foxes took on the warriors as the two smaller ones slunk away from the fight. One headed hungrily towards the nursery, which was unguarded, and the other towards the apprentices' den.

I saw a glimpse of Swiftpaw snap at the fox heading towards the nursery. The fox turned on her and chased her as she went for the fox slinking towards the apprentices' den. She clawed at the fox and chased after her with the other fox.

"Run Swiftpaw! Run!" I yowled.

She dashed away from the camp leading the foxes away. I ran after her to make sure that she was alright. I heard a scream and ran towards it. When i reached where the scream came from, I saw her sprinting unknowingly towards the edge of a cliff.

"Swiftpaw!" I screamed when I saw her fall over the side with the foxes right behind her.

I was on the edge of the cliff in a flash, calling for Swiftpaw. Then I saw her. I looked around frantically for a way to get to her. Part of the cliff had been eroded enough for me to skid down the side easily.

"Swiftpaw?" I nudged her with my nose, but she didn't respond. "Swiftpaw?!"

I nudged her harder trying to get her to open her eyes but she wouldn't. She had deep scratches on her head that were bleeding badly.

"Swiftpaw, please, don't leave me," I felt tears form behind my eyes as I reluctantly picked her up to carry her back to camp.

"Breezepaw? Oh no," I heard Harefoot gasp.

He tried to help carry Swiftpaw's body, but I wouldn't let him. Understanding shone bright in his eyes. He lead me back to camp and held back the bits of the heather bushes that would get in my way.

The camp was littered with injured warriors. None injured as badly as Swiftpaw, though. I walked to the center of the camp, and sensed rather than saw the sympathetic glances and stares as I place Swiftpaw down and curled up beside her. I set my head on top of hers. The second it closed my eyes, I felt the tears start to come. I let them. I sniffed and felt the quiet sobs shake through me.

"We shouldn't have teased her," Dustpaw admitted.

"You think," I spat bitterly.

I honestly don't care if that was rude, it's their fault Swiftpaw is gone. If they had acted like real warriors instead of cowering then Swiftpaw would still be alive. No one understood how much it hurts to know she's gone.

"Just go away," I heard my voice crack. "Please."

"Breezepaw," Redpaw's voice was soft and apologetic.

"I don't want to talk to you," I hissed weakly.

Several of my clanmates muttered their sympathies, but I didn't want them. I wanted, needed, Swiftpaw. The queens and kits came to sit vigil for Swiftpaw, but they'd never miss her like I did. No one would. Death is a tragic thing, yet I wish for it to take me. If she's there I want to be there. My only question is why. Why do cats make death seem like sleep? It's not. It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not. It's death, and it takes those you love most away from you. Death is forever.


End file.
